PENNSYLVANIA’S CONFEDERATE HISTORY The Leaders, Soldiers, Supporters, Battles, memorials and Symbols of Pennsylvania’s Confederate Heritage Presented by: The Pennsylvania Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans This educational booklet is intended as an introduction to issues of Confederate history and heritage within Pennsylvania. Along with explaining who we are and what we represent, it provides you with a brief look at the vast amount of Confederate history that is part of our shared Pennsylvania history. It also provides an explanation about the various major symbols of the Confederacy, their history and their place today. About the Sons of Confederate Veterans The SCV is the direct heir of the United Confederate Veterans, and the oldest hereditary organization for male descendants of Confederate soldiers. Organized at Richmond, Virginia in 1896, the SCV continues to serve as a historical, patriotic, and non-political organization dedicated to insuring that a true history of the 1861-1865 period is preserved. Membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans is open to all male descendants of any veteran who served honorably in the Confederate armed forces. Membership can be obtained through either direct or collateral family lines and kinship to a veteran must be documented genealogically. The minimum age for membership is 12. The SCV has ongoing programs at the local, state, and national levels which offer members a wide range of activities. Preservation work, marking Confederate soldier's graves, historical re-enactments, scholarly publications, and regular meetings to discuss the military and political history of the War Between the States are only a few of the activities sponsored by local units, called camps. The administrative work of the SCV is conducted at the national headquarters, 'Elm Springs,' a restored ante-bellum home at Columbia, Tennessee. The programs of the SCV range from assistance to undergraduate students through the General Stand Watie Scholarship to medical research grants given through the Brooks Fund. National historical symposiums, reprinting of rare books, and the erection of monuments are just a few of the other projects endorsed by the SCV. The SCV works in conjunction with other historical groups to preserve Confederate history. The SCV rejects any group whose actions tarnish or distort the image of the Confederate soldier or his reasons for fighting. About Pennsylvania, Lee’s Keystone Division. A Division is the state level organization of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. All of the Camps within Pennsylvania are part of the Pennsylvania Division. The Division is part of the Army of Northern Virginia Department which is one of three regional departments in the SCV. The purpose of the Division is three fold. Its first duty is to assist and support the member Camps in their efforts to honor and preserve the history of our Confederate ancestors. Second, the Division represents the needs of the Camps and the state as a whole in the Department Council. Finally, the Division coordinates projects and activities that require the efforts of multiple Camps or fall outside the jurisdiction of any Camp. The Division is active in researching the role Pennsylvanians played in the Confederacy and its struggle for independence. The Division also helps educate Pennsylvanians about the Pennsylvania Confederate Heritage and general history of the period. Pennsylvania was the birthplace of six Confederate generals who served with honor and distinction during the war. Their support of the Confederacy illustrates the complexity of the period, as each man chose to fight for principle rather than just their native home. Lt. General John Clifford Pemberton, CSA General Pemberton was born on August 10, 1814, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1837. He saw his first action in the Second Seminole War and was decorated for bravery and brevetted twice in the Mexican War. In 1848, he married Martha Thompson of Norfolk, Virginia. When war broke out in 1861, he resigned from the Union Army and joined the Virginia State forces. His first significant duty came in March 1862, when he was promoted to major general and took command of the Department of South Carolina and Georgia. ress g of Con Many South Carolinians feared that the Pennsylvania-born general was y not dedicated to an all-out defense of their department. Pemberton, Librar however, set up the defenses of Charleston including the famous Battery Wagner that successfully help fend off Union invasion attempts for years. In the fall of 1862, President Davis promoted Pemberton to lieutenant general and ordered him to defend Vicksburg, Mississippi. Its defenses were the last major river obstacle to Union control of the river and splitting the Confederacy in two. Pemberton took command of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana on October 14, 1862. He immediately put his years of administrative experience to use solving supply problems and improving troop morale. For several months he enjoyed remarkable success, defeating attempts by Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to take Vicksburg in the winter of 1862-63. In the spring, Grant crossed the Mississippi below Vicksburg. Pemberton was ordered by President Davis not to move his army from the city. Davis then ordered Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to Mississippi to relieve Vicksburg. Johnston ordered Pemberton to unite his forces and attack Grant even if that meant abandoning the defense of Vicksburg. Pemberton kept his forces at Vicksburg, following the higher of the conflicting orders. Meanwhile Grant moved swiftly closer with victories at Port Gibson, Raymond, and Jackson. Pemberton moved his army east from Edwards Station, all the while maintaining close contact with Vicksburg. In this manner he hoped to head Grant off, while keeping Vicksburg protected. However, another order from Johnston forced Pemberton to reverse direction to join with Johnston's forces which had been defeated at Jackson. Before he could reach Johnston, Pemberton was forced into battle at Champions Hill and suffered a major defeat. Pemberton retreated to Vicksburg to try to save the city, as ordered by President Davis, even if that meant risking the loss of his army. He and his men endured a forty-seven day siege before surrendering on July 4, 1863. Pemberton resigned both to end the distracting controversy over the loss of Vicksburg and because there were no posts available for someone of his rank. He rejoined and served the remainder of the war as a lieutenant colonel of artillery in Virginia and South Carolina, rather than give up fighting for the Confederacy. After the war he settled on a farm near Warrenton, Virginia, and eventually returned to Pennsylvania, where he died July 13, 1881, in the village of Penllyn. He is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. Brig. General Josiah Gorgas, CSA Josiah Gorgas, born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1818, was the youngest of ten children. At seventeen, his brother-in-law became his official guardian and got him a job in a printing office in New York. Gorgas showed promise to Congressman Graham Chapin, who recommended his appointment to West Point. ress g Gorgas graduated sixth in his fifty-two member class in June, 1841 and of Con joined the Corps of Ordnance. Gorgas served at Watervliet Arsenal, New y York, and Detroit Arsenal in the Northwest. He then served under General Librar Winfield Scott during the Mexican War as the chief of the ordnance depot in Vera Cruz. He received his promotion to first lieutenant before the war ended. He went back to his work at various arsenals in the North before being transferred to the Fort Monroe Arsenal. On December 26, 1853, Gorgas married Amelia Gayle, the daughter of a former governor of Alabama. In 1856, Gorgas was promoted to Captain. He was transferred back North to Kennebec Arsenal in Maine and then in July of 1860 to Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia. In February of 1861 Gorgas declined a position in the Confederate artillery corps. In April, he changed his mind, resigned his commission in the Union Army and accepted the Confederate major's commission as Chief of Ordnance. The Confederacy did not have a functioning Ordnance Department nor the means by which to produce the ordnance needed to sustain the upcoming war effort. Gorgas worked to build up the Confederacy’s industrial capacity. Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond and several of the South’s lesser forges were improved and new technologies were employed. Gorgas also began massing what support he could from foreign nations. To open a path for the arrival of foreign war materials, Gorgas developed his own fleet of blockade runners which successfully imported more than 300,000 rifles in one year alone. In addition to arms and ammunition, they imported tools, medicine and various other supplies. Thanks to his innovative methods, vision and use of new technologies, Gorgas built the Confederacy into a state of industrialization that allowed the war effort to continue. After the War, he served as president of The University of Alabama. He died on May 15, 1883 in Tuscaloosa, AL where he is buried. His son, William Crawford Gorgas (1854-1920), became surgeon general of the United States. Brig. Gen. Johnson Kelley Duncan, CSA Duncan was born in York, PA in 1827. He graduated from West Point in 1849 and went on to serve in Florida against the Seminoles. Afterward, he headed to the Northwest exploring routes for the Northern Pacific Railroad. He resigned from the Army in 1855 to become the Superintendent of Government Construction in New Orleans. When the war broke out, he was the Chief Engineer of the Board of Public Works for Louisiana. Duncan enlisted and became the Colonel of artillery defending the forts around New Orleans. The forts under his command were Fort Jackson and ress g Fort St.